


Like the prodigal son

by iamclem



Category: Captain America (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Captain America: Civil War (Movie) Spoilers, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-09
Updated: 2016-05-12
Packaged: 2018-06-07 08:19:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,504
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6796468
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iamclem/pseuds/iamclem
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tony blinks. “Hold on, wait a second. Someone’s going around calling themselves Daredevil? Wait, no, Spider-Man is infinitely more ridiculous. But what the hell, I called myself Iron Man and my suit isn’t even iron, so...basically, I have no idea what the hell you’re talking about. Next question?”</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Vigilantes

After the whole Ultron fiasco, Tony Stark does a lot of press conferences. Mostly to apologize and announce new programs dedicated to rebuilding Sokovia and Johannesburg and D.C. and New York and pretty much every place the Avengers has fucked over. (There’s also the nightmares and the awkward silences whenever he is with Pepper and the continued tension between him and the good Captain, but that’s another story altogether.)

It’s at one of these press conferences when some intrepid young reporter from the Daily Shitstain or whatever asks him a question he wasn’t necessarily expecting.

“Mr. Stark, sir,” the kid asks. “What is your opinion on the recent rise of vigilante activity in New York, from Spider-Man to Daredevil to Jessica Jones?”

Tony blinks. “Hold on, wait a second. Someone’s going around calling themselves _Daredevil?_ Wait, no, _Spider-Man_ is infinitely more ridiculous. But what the hell, I called myself Iron Man and my suit isn’t even _iron_ , so...basically, I have no idea what the hell you’re talking about. Next question?”

Later that night, when he’s sitting in bed in his robe with a carton of Ben & Jerry’s (sue him, for god’s sake), he tries to brush that question out of his mind. And of course, he immediately fails.

“FRIDAY, google Spider-Man, Daredevil, and, uh...Jessica Jones for me, will you? And put ‘em up on the screens.”

“Of course, sir,” FRIDAY responds. Tony determinedly shoos away his immediate thought of JARVIS and focuses on the screens on the wall instead.

As it turns out, Jessica Jones is some private investigator from Hell’s Kitchen with a drinking problem and enough issues to fill up a coliseum. _Look who’s talking, of course._ Mind control isn’t so hard to believe when he has a bright red android with the power to destroy the entire world making ice cream three floors below him.

But while Jessica Jones has no qualms about her public identity, Daredevil is another case altogether. The man sticks to the shadows of Hell’s Kitchen, all while taking down assholes like Fisk and some of the various mafias still lurking around. But from what Tony can tell, the guy went completely silent a couple months ago. _That probably won’t last long. Hell’s Kitchen is too much of a shithole to be protected by one person only._

But Spider-Man. _That_ is a surprise.

“What in the hell,” Tony says, leaning in closer to the screen. “Is _that_?”

A man — maybe even a boy, going by his height and weight — in a horrendously bright red and blue onesie swings — literally _swings_ , what the hell?— from building to building in what looks like...Queens? Maybe Brooklyn, Tony’s not a goddamn GPS. But Tony’s jaw drops further when FRIDAY brings up another video and he sees the scrawny spider...person land in an alley and proceed to absolutely kick the asses of some assholes cornering a girl. The kid is clearly strong like, if not stronger than, the Jones girl: he kicks one man hard enough to send him into the air and his head smashes against the wall, knocking him out instantly. After both men are out cold, he drags both very large men to an alley wall with seeming ease and — what the _fuck —_   _webs_ them to the wall. The spider-man-boy-child takes a moment to do a little dance in celebration before he’s off with another shot of his freaky web things.

Several videos later, Tony settles back against his (very comfortable, thank you) pillows and thinks. _Spider-thing clearly loves his privacy. He has a shitty costume and climbs up walls and literally gets around the city on spider webs. He has super strength and agility and who knows what else._

The decision is very obvious when it comes down to it. “FRIDAY, get me everything you — and by you, I mean security cameras, S.H.I.E.L.D., the C.I.A. for god’s sake— know about this itsy bitsy spider.”


	2. Youth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Oh god,” Shrinking/growing dude (seriously, where the hell did he get that tech?) groans from the ground, palming his face. “I beat up a twelve year old.”

After Mr. Stark tells him to _stay down_ , Peter does manage to get up. Eventually. Not without the bare minimum of groaning and whining.

“Jesus, purse snatchers and car crashes did _not_ prepare me for this,” Peter says, placing a hesitant hand across his aching ribs. “Literally nothing could have prepared me for this. How do you guys do this all the time?”

“Can you please shut up?” the Falcon (which, _holy shit that’s the Falcon_ ) mutters from where the Vision is tying him up nearby.

Peter frowns. “Hey, just ‘cause _you_ got the right to be silent doesn’t mean _I_ have to exercise it myself. I would know, we’re going over the Bill of Rights this week.”

“Oh god,” Shrinking/growing dude ( _seriously_ , where the _hell_ did he get that tech?) groans from the ground, palming his face. “I beat up a twelve year old.”

Vision raises an eyebrow at Peter, and it feels weird getting side-eyed by a bright red alien/robot thing in a cape. “Spider-Man, I would appreciate it if you would so kindly immobilize our shrinking friend.”

“It’s _Ant-Man_. Come on, none of you guys have heard of me? Seriously?” The man says as Peter grabs a zip tie from Vision and gets to work. Ant-Man half-heartedly attempts to yank his wrists out of Peter’s hold but Peter just squeezes them even harder, making the older man squirm. “Hey, kid, take it easy. And...I’m sorry for being so rough out there. I, well, I wouldn’t’ve down that if I’d known - “

Peter rolls his eyes and briefly considers webbing his mouth shut. “Don’t. I’m not that young, okay? I’m way stronger and smarter than you anyway, even if you are, like, fifty feet tall.” He tightens Ant-Man’s restraints just past the point of being comfortable to make his point clear.

Ant-Man winces. “Nice. Turns out _I_ got beat by the twelve year old. Hope is going to be so impressed.”

Peter doesn’t bother to ask. He looks at Vision and sees him and the _really damn cool_ panther dude restraining Scarlet Witch. No way Peter is going to try and stop _her_ , he’d rather not get his ass handed to him again, thank you. He settles for bugging Hawkeye instead, who’s already gotten handcuffed by Black Widow, which must have been awkward for both of them.

“So, Katniss,” Peter begins.

Hawkeye cuts him off immediately. “No, no, I refuse to listen to this. Just send me to the gulag or whatever Stark has planned for us already.” Hawkeye pauses. “Do you even know what a gulag is?”

“ _I’m not that young!_ ” Peter protests. “I pay attention in class! I have lived through enough of life to know many...things.”

“Apparently not enough to realize when you’re on the wrong side,” Falcon comments.

Spider-Man glares at him, feeling triumphant when he remember that _he can now glare at people through his mask. Thank you Tony Stark!_ “Shut up. I know enough. I saw Mr. Stark tell the world who he was and take responsibility for everything he did. I saw aliens attack New York, _my city_ , and I saw the mess you left behind in D.C. and I saw the shit that went down in Sokovia ‘cause of those robots. _This?_ This just makes sense.”

Hawkeye snorts. “Tell yourself that all you want. What I see is some kid hiding behind a mask, trying to pass off as an adult because Stark needed a child soldier to win. That’s not _responsibility._ That’s child endangerment.”

Peter stares, silent for just a beat. He gulps and feels trickle after trickle of sweat drip down his forehead, feels what he normally tries _not_ to feel - the exhaustion weighing down every one of his limbs, the horrible pain in his ribs and his _everything_ , the light from the sun burning his eyes and making him feel just...tired. “Well...you should talk. How old is _she_?” Peter deflects, tilting his head over to where Vision and Black Panther are talking to Scarlet Witch.

From the wrinkles on Hawkeye’s forehead, Peter guesses he struck a nerve. Falcon answers for him instead. “Hey, she’s old enough to make her own decisions, at least legally. What, did Stark recruit you from the playground?”

Peter goes to retort but Vision interrupts him. “The task force is here to take in...” Vision pauses, clearly not wanting to say _the criminals._ “To put them all in custody for the time being. We should go see Mr. Rhodes right now.”

Falcon shuts his eyes and Peter can practically feel the guilt oozing off of him. _They’re all friends,_ Peter realizes. He feels sad, then - sad for the idea that he had in his head of the Avengers, the image of them standing together to face off against whatever threat came their way, be it aliens or murderous robots or HYDRA. Now, half of them were criminals, one of them could be _dead_ , and the burned bridges between them show no signs of being crossable.

Peter sighs. _Childhood ruined._

**Author's Note:**

> I have never written a single fic set in the MCU and never planned on doing so. And then I watched Civil War and for the first time saw a Spider-Man that I genuinely loved on screen. And then that Spider-Man interacted with all of my favorite characters and this spewed out. 
> 
> I literally wrote this in around fifteen minutes and didn't even check it over so I'll probably be back to both edit this and also to add more chapters (not necessarily from Tony's POV, or even involving Tony, because I love me some Peter) because I love my new spider son.
> 
> Also, title is from "Left Hand Free" by alt-J. Yes, it's the song that plays during Peter's intro and I love it bye


End file.
